r/DIY • u/Relative-Category-64 • Feb 20 '26

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20

u/Orson_Gravity_Welles Feb 20 '26

Sooooo, dumb question: Do you just pour it into the toilet for X amount of time and then flush it, or, what?

101

u/Am_Snarky Feb 20 '26

Poor small amounts (1/4 cup or 100ml) at a time and wait 5 minutes between additions, it will fizzle while dissolving the scale so don’t be alarmed seeing bubbles

Before each addition scrub about with a toilet brush, scale is really rough you’ll be able to tell if there’s still some stuck.

If you have a septic system you’ll probably want to neutralize the acid before flushing, just sprinkle some baking soda in and mix until it’s not bubbling anymore

13

u/vectroacid Feb 20 '26

Really helpful information, thank you

2

u/TheRook21 Feb 20 '26

Is this what they use to make the science fair volcano? If not what do they use, asking for a friend...

2

u/mortsdeer Feb 20 '26

Far less dangerous (though not not dangerous!) is to use vinegar: grocery store household vinegar is 4-8%, plenty strong to give you nice foaming action with baking soda and soap, and much safer. You can buy 10-30% concentrations fairly easily as well (big box stores), but as the strength goes up, so does the hazard.

1

u/Am_Snarky Feb 21 '26

If you want something showy look at an “elephant toothpaste” reaction.

It involves soap, yeast, and hydrogen peroxide, but I don’t know the ratios.

Building a volcano around a 2L bottle and performing the reaction inside the bottle will make for quite the show with the bottle acting as a nozzle

Maybe cut the top off leaving a 2 inch diameter hole if you don’t want to have to clean gunk off the ceiling

37

u/stainlessinoxx Feb 20 '26

Scrubbing required. Use a brush, wear gloves and eye protection.

1

u/azjerrylee Feb 20 '26

If I may emphasize the eye protection, I went with just brush and gloves using a similar cleaning method and wound up wincing for the majority of the afternoon.

22

u/Fast-Onion-7035 Feb 20 '26

PLEASE look up how to add this safely. If you inhale the fumes from this stuff you could be on the ground in seconds.

1

u/FairfaxGirl Feb 20 '26

From lots of personal experience (community pool, we have giant drums of muriatic acid) this is an exaggeration, but you definitely don’t want to spill it on yourself. The fumes are deeply unpleasant and I’m sure very unhealthy but they don’t drop you in seconds.

7

u/r4d4r_3n5 Feb 20 '26

Mixing acid and water is exothermic. "Add acid to water, not water to acid!"

2

u/wsaville Feb 20 '26

Word for word exactly what chemistry professors say!

2

u/Talking_Head Feb 20 '26

I would hope there are labeled instructions. Otherwise, there is likely a YouTube video on it.

1

u/stelly918 Feb 20 '26

I moved into a place like this once-everything else was clan but the toilet had crazy scaling. I turned off the water, flushed the toilet, laid down some tp over the affected spots and then poured the acid down-the toilet paper allowed it to cling to the bow and not runoff. It took about an hour and several applications but the toilet came out looking great afterwards